Judges 4:3

“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.

‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’

Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.

You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.”

I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’ ”

“But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,

In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.

You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;

It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.

We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.

from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon;

Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.

Yahweh was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

So it came to pass in the day of battle, that neither sword nor spear was found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.

Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered it into the hand of his servants. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,

After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You will pay your vows.

He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.

In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me.

Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”

We grope for the wall like the blind. Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men.

Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored,

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.

He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.

When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian,

The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.”

Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears”;

Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;

They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.

Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.

It may be Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”

They will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword.

You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?

But if they are prophets, and if Yahweh’s word is with them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Armies, that the vessels which are left in Yahweh’s house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon.

But I will deliver you in that day,” says Yahweh; “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us;

It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

“In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, with captains over all of them.

The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba;

They abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked Yahweh to anger.

Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying Yahweh’s commandments. They didn’t do so.

When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

Yahweh confused Sisera, all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet.

They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.

Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”

They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow. They were of Saul’s relatives of the tribe of Benjamin.

He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.

In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed. Deliver me in your righteousness.

In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed.

Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.

Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.

even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”

“ ‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you.

A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always,

The children of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. All the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth Shean and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”

But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

They put away the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

The children of Israel said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying to Yahweh our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.”

They cried to Yahweh, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots. He went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.

and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will build you a house.

So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah with his people, who came and encamped near Medeba. The children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.

They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.

Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”

I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first,

I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”